Snow Party!!

There was nearly two whole weeks left in February when I started writing this entry, and now it's two days into March.

The key event for our family in the second month of the year is the celebration of Ashley's birth. We decided to make use of this years most abundant winter resource and throw a Snow Party!

The gathering commenced over at a local park, called Cliffside, that sits at the base of the mountains. It's wide-open rolling slopes, with very few interfering trees, made for a perfect sledding area. Amber's family showed up in mass for the activity, joining us with our good friends the Billmans who also came up from Provo.

Although Ashley had been sledding before in our backyard, that was a very shallow slope and the ride lasted maybe 3-5 seconds. Her first experience on an actual hill didn't go as well. She didn't quite appreciate the thrill at first, even while riding safely in Mommy's arms. It wasn't until we drastically reduced the speed of descent before Ashley enjoyed the ride. However, she did enjoy being pulled around the park like royalty. Everyone else in attendance seemed to enjoy themselves. Especially Ashley's Granny Bagby who hiked twice up the hill - with the aid of her cane - only to come screaming down on a plastic toboggan. No one was injured during the activity.

The festivities culminated back at our house as the group retreated for pizza, Amber's lovely snowman cake, and Ashley's presents. We also presented a short film on Ashley's Second Year. You can find an online version here, although you should be warned that it's a rather large file. It could take a few minutes to load before it begins playing.

The month ended much like it began, having family visit from out of town. This time, rather than a whole crew, we were happy to have Amber's sister Stacy and daughter Sienna visit for a few days. Ashley and Sienna enjoyed having someone to play with. Stacy provided a huge service by watching Ashley while Amber spent a week at work while she received training on some new software that her office is using.

We have loved the snow and all the visitors we've received during February. We're hoping to continue to entertain guests as the weather warms up, but we're done with the snow. It can melt away now.